An investigation into the finances of current and former world leaders and their associates reveals the unsurprising yet shocking scale of wealth they hoard. Though many of the records detail shell companies, foundations and trusts used as vehicles to conceal ownership of investments, houses, yachts, jets and other luxuries—or simply to evade paying taxes—other documents are tied to financial crimes such as money laundering.
The more than 330 current and former politicians identified as beneficiaries of the secret accounts include Jordan's King Abdullah II, former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, Czech Republic Prime Minister Andrej Babis, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso, and associates of both Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
… Blair, U.K prime minister from 1997 to 2007, became the owner of an $8.8 million Victorian building in 2017 by buying a British Virgin Islands company that held the property, and the building now hosts the law firm of his wife, Cherie Blair, according to the the investigation. The two bought the company from the family of Bahrain's industry and tourism minister, Zayed bin Rashid al-Zayani. Buying the company shares instead of the London building saved the Blairs more than $400,000 in property taxes, the investigation found.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists report is based largely on leaks from 14 offshore financial services companies and the consortium has shared the raw material with media worldwide.
